This Is Us Season 2 Episode 3 Explores the Terror of Letting Down the Ones You Love

Last week’s episode of This Is Us explored the complicated relationship between mother and daughter. And this week, the NBC drama tackled the patterns of repressed emotion between father and son and the wounds that have remained open since Jack’s (Milo Ventimiglia) untimely death. It beautifully presents a shared narrative that has until now been internalized: Randall (Sterling K. Brown) on Jack, Kevin (Justin Hartley) on Jack, Randall on William (Ron Cephas Jones), and Jack on his dad. We also see how their pain has affected the women in their lives.

Here's what we learned in This Is Us Season 2 Episode 3, "Deja Vu":

Jack has yet to develop a personal relationship with his sobriety.

Every time Jack talks about getting better, or when he tries to take the necessary steps toward sobriety, he credits his promise to Rebecca as the reason—that and a visceral fear of disappointing her and their kids. This episode opens with Jack at AA, stumbling to get through the telling of his personal story to his peers, the idea of sharing personal details a struggle he’s still too embarrassed to face. Instead, he tries to makes a joke about it, saying he wasn’t going to win the prize this week because he couldn’t bring himself to open up. Later in the episode, we see him up late at night trying to understand the 12-step process. From the look on his face you can tell he’s frustrated, both by the fact that he has to determine a way to overcome this, and that his weakness is no longer hidden from his loved ones. It's been exposed to those who matter most to him, and this affects him more than anything else. He's turned into his own father, internalizing his deepest emotions and succumbing to the bottle, despite his attempts to avoid that path.

Randall tried to locate his biological parents as a teen.

Until this episode, we were led to believe Rebecca was the only Pearson who contacted one of Randall’s biological parents after she and Jack adopted him. But we see in this ep that Randall placed a classified ad searching for them. He actually received a response from a woman who wrote a back: “I’m so glad you found me!” As heartbreaking as it is to watch him meet this mystery woman, who immediately gives herself away as a fraud by making it clear she's looking for money, it’s even more crushing to see Randall internalize his feelings with Kevin and Kate, who accompanied him to this encounter. He says nothing all the way home, then locks himself up in his room. Randall feels like an outsider in his own house, and he feels like he doesn't have anyone to discuss it with.

Niles Fitch as 15-year-old Randall in This Is Us Season 2 Episode 3, "Deja Vu"

NBC

Jack might not have had a way with words like William, but he managed to expressed his hopes for his sons in an equally moving way.

While he doesn’t say much in AA, Jack does reveal he hopes his sons do not end up like him, and that they don’t turn to the bottle when something is weighing on them. This is presented in a similar way to William’s “Letters to My Son” voiceover in the season premiere, connecting Jack and William as fathers communicating with their sons despite the difference in decades.

Being a foster parent is Randall’s calling.

Last episode, Randall freaked out about whether he and Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) were prepared to parent a foster child. This week, he's hyped about welcoming a new child into their home. But when 12-year-old Deja moves into their home and barely speaks to them, Randall’s heart sinks. It’s even worse when Deja and Beth get into an altercation after Beth finds cigarettes in her bag. Randall walks into the room to intervene, but his mere presence causes Deja to flinch. Beth assures him she can handle it and he walks back out. He fears his dream of making a home for a young child, and giving her what Jack gave to him, has been dashed. But he chooses to tap into his own journey as an adopted son in order to relate to and ease his new daughter into their home. Showing her a picture of him with the Pearsons and another one of William, he says:

"My whole childhood I felt split inside. But my life turned out great. I have this big amazing extended family. I have this big amazing life. I see me in you. I think that means it’s going to happen for you too."

Deja responds positively until Randall tells her that her mother will be in jail for a while. Deja breaks the photo frame and runs to her room. While his words definitely impacted her, it's this final impression that worries Beth. But Randall recognizes this moment and assures Beth it's the first step toward a healthier relationship.

Sterling K. Brown as Randall Pearson in This Is Us Season 2 Episode 3, "Deja Vu"

NBC

Jack’s death has affected Kevin more than he is ready to accept.

In the season premiere, we see two-thirds of the Pearson siblings huddled on a couch in their home upon learning of their father’s death. Kevin isn’t there. In the premiere, we saw him with a girl during this sequence, but we don't know much about where he was—or how he eventually finds out about Jack. In this episode we discover he hasn't really dealt with the death of his father. He doesn't discuss it with his family. He’s internalized it so much, the mere mention of Jack makes him recoil. In this episode, Kate visits him on the set of his new moving alongside Sylvester Stallone (yes, the Sylvester Stallone). Stallone was Jack’s favorite actor, Kate said. She’s geeking and tells Kevin how proud their dad would be to see him here. But Kevin's uncomfortable with the mere mention of his father and he quickly changes the subject.

Justin Hartley as Kevin Pearson, Chrissy Metz as Kate Pearson, and Sylvester Stallone as himself in This Is Us Season 2 Episode 3, "Deja Vu"

NBC

But while Kevin's in his trailer, Kate strikes up a conversation with Stallone ("Sly," as he tells her to call him) and tells him about their superfan dad. Kate and Sly forge a rather unexpected bond, and their conversation reveals just how much Kate misses having a father figure to talk to. When Stallone later mentions to Kevin than he and Kate were talking about his dad, Kevin tries to play it cool by saying it was a long time ago—something Stallone quickly notices. “It’s never ‘a long time ago.’ It’s only memories that mean something and others that don’t.” With this simple line, Kevin instantly falls into a well of memories of his dad, with a montage showing an image of Jack in the military (the same one from last week), similar to the set Kevin is on in this scene.

But now, Kevin is so flustered, he can barely get through his scene. Back in his trailer, he accuses Kate of ruining the shoot. It was one thing to blame her for his terrible scene, but when he blames her for wallowing in their dad’s death, it's clear this is a very difficult conversation for him. Just as the saying goes that “hurt people hurt people,” Kevin hurls a completely uncalled for blow at Kate when she suggests therapy. “I don’t need to walk around feeling sad and damaged just because you are,” he tells her. Her face falls and she walks out the door. This is a doubly important scene because we’ve never seen these two ever really have an argument. This one's a doozy for both of them. Though Kevin later apologizes to Kate and admits their dad’s death is “really hard” for him, it'll be interesting to see when and how Kevin will come to terms with this, and whether he too is feeling a sense of embarrassment about his feelings.

Jack has stopped talking to Rebecca ever since starting his path toward sobriety.

Of course there are the “good morning” pecks on the cheek, and the couple does still sleep in the same bed, but we learn in this episode that Jack has placed a remarkable amount of distance between himself and Rebecca ever since he started taking control of his sobriety. And Rebecca is worried. Though she tries to play it off at lunch with Miguel’s (Jon Huertas) estranged wife Shelley (Wynn Everett), a red flag goes up to her friend when Rebecca says it's “been a while” since she and Jack had sex. Shelly suggests a date night for the couple, and Rebecca decides to sweep Jack off his feet at work and take him to back to the setting of one of their first dates. He immediately recognizes the gesture, but becomes awkward when he realizes how deafening the silence is when it’s just the two of them in an abandoned car lot. He starts to fidget with the burgers she bought for them. He doesn't know what to say, and it becomes even more uncomfortable for him when she moves to the passenger seat to make out with him. Though he recognizes the gesture, he admits he’s just not ready. Rebecca, noticeably disappointed, starts the car and drives them home. Once there, Rebecca begins to walk to the house and, but Jack stops her and says, “I miss talking to you.”

Back in the car, Jack confesses he borrowed money from his dad to pay for their house. “I was embarrassed that I couldn’t provide for us without him,” he says. There's that word again: embarrassed. This is a recurring theme with Jack as he struggles to deal with his own demons. His ego has kept him not only from communicating, but also from truly acknowledging the root of his sobriety, a past he describes as “ugly, horrible years.” He tells Rebecca, “They say on the other side, there is relief. But I feel like I’m holding on by a thread." Though she’s been very supportive, there is the fact of her own needs as a mother and wife in this situation. This will be likely be explored in future episodes.

Annie Pearson convinced William to continue living with her family when he was too ashamed to stay.

In another great moment in this episode, Deja strolls into little Annie (Faith Herman) and Tess Pearson’s (Eris Baker) room in the middle of the night, nervous about living in this big house with her new family. She asks the sisters a series of questions about what it’s like to live there, like “Who makes the rules here?” and “What’s punishment look like?” They oblige her and seem to be comforting her with their responses, though she remains hesitant,.

Then we enter a flashback scene with Annie and William as he tries to slip out of their house on the first night of living with the Pearsons. Annie catches him and urges him to stay. Like Deja, he too felt uncomfortable living in a house of this size. He says in this scene what Deja doesn’t have the words for: “I’ve been doing things my way for a while. I just don’t want to let any of you down.” Yet again, this fear of disappointing loved ones, a constant concern for Jack, is echoed by Randall’s biological father.

Faithe Herman as Annie Pearson and Eris Baker as Tess Pearson in This Is Us Season 2 Episode 3, "Deja Vu"

NBC

Still reluctant to stick around, William asks Annie about how to turn the lights on in the bathroom. “Oh, you just walk in there and wave your hands around.” He chuckles, replying, “This house is crazy.”

Back in the current scene, the girls tell Deja they get their iPads taken away when they’ve misbehaved. Stunned by the relatively mild punishment, Deja says “This house is crazy.”

A Part of Hearst Digital Media
Harper's BAZAAR participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.